MY WORDMARK JOURNEY
I purchased my first credits in Worldmark by Trendwest at the resort in Denarau in 2002. I received an invitation for three days there at no cost provided I attended a compulsory seminar. I suspected that this was a thinly disguised attempt to entice me to purchase timeshare with them. At the time I was just coming out of a nasty and expensive marriage breakup and was looking for a means to be able to take my children on holidays on a limited budget, so I was interested to find out more about timeshare. My 12 year old son was living with me at the time so I paid an additional fee to extend my visit to Fiji to seven days and we both flew over there.
To cut a long story short, I purchased 8000 credits whilst I was there and between then and 2015 I increased my annual credit entitlement to 104,000. This was before there was such a thing as the 100 Club and I built up my credits so that my children and I could holiday more often and to some very exotic places. Also, although I could afford air fares and other holiday costs, I was keen to have the ability to use personal choices just in case the time would come when I needed assistance with these costs. I do not view 100 Club membership as a “badge of honour” to give me wonderful gifts when I arrive at a resort and I don’t expect to be treated any differently than any other member. This is evidenced by the fact that I have used my credits to travel extensively overseas, more frequently in the U.S.A. where they don’t even know what the 100 Club is. My experience is that the normal treatment that I receive at a Worldmark or other affiliated resort is nearly always great without the need for the extra trimmings, although I am the first to admit that some of these trimmings can be very nice.
Until March 2019 I lived in Victoria and because of the Cold and very changeable weather there I felt the need to spend as much of the Winter in warmer places and usually spent two weeks in Queensland, three weeks in the U.S.A. and then ten days in Fiji between May and October each year, plus other wonderful trips when I felt the need. One of these was to the Punta Cana in the Dominican republic as a gift to my daughter and her boyfriend and I was also accompanied by my partner. I took both my children to Disneyworld in Orlando in 2004, stopping at Las Angeles and San Diego on the way to visit the Dan Diego Zoo and Sea World there.
Generally as my family has grown up they have shared my Worldmark to the fullest. An Older Daughter got married at the chapel at the Sheraton on Denarau when she and her partner were staying at the Worldmark Resort there. I provided my son with his honey moon of a week in New York, a week in Miami and a week in Hawaii. New York and Hawaii were both booked through RCI and Worldmark respectively but at the time Worldmark could not do anything in Miami so that week cost me. In 2016 I got three two bedroom waterfront units at Denarau and invited a group of 16 family members there to share our Worldmark experience and I chose Denarau as that resort has always brought back fond memories and has been my favourite.
In 2014 My partner and I embarked on our first road trip in the U.S.A. and we enjoyed it so much that we have gone back every year since (twice in 2015). We have now visited 43 of the 50 states over there and covered about 30,000 miles, always staying at either Worldmark, Wyndham resorts or motels in the Wyndham group using either credits or Wyndham rewards points. In 2018 we visited Thailand, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and South Africa and with the exception of Thailand, that was all provided by Wyndham Rewards and RCI.
We relocated to Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland in March 2019 to enjoy a much better lifestyle than that we were enjoying in Victoria and we were certainly not disappointed. Unfortunately, about a year after arriving here the world was stricken with the Covid 19 pandemic which has resulted in the closing of all our borders and the cancellation of some trips that we had booked. One of these was three weeks in the U.S.A. leaving on July 10th next but fortunately all the accommodation bookings were made either through Wyndham Rewards or Worldmark and could be cancelled without loss. The flights were booked through personal choices and no loss has been incurred there as they have been put on hold for when we can fly again and the only other expense was my travel insurance which I booked through Worldmark Travel Dept. and that cost has been refunded.
That is a very brief glossary of my Worldmark experience over the last eighteen years and any reader would surely agree that there have been many marvelous holiday experiences over that period for my entire family. What would I do without Wyndham?
I have taken the liberty to append a list which, to the best that I can recall, covers the many and varied Wyndham and affiliated places that either I or my family have visited over this period.
WORLDMARK RESORTS VISITED
01. BISON RANCH – OVERGAARD ARIZONA
02. RANCHO VISTOSA – ORO VALLEY ARIZONA
03. ANAHEIM – LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA
04. DOLPHINS COVE – LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA
05. ANGELS CAMP – ANGELS CAMP CALIFORNIA
06. BASS LAKE – BASS LAKE CALIFORNIA
07. CLEAR LAKE – NICE CALIFORNIA
08. INDIO – INDIO CALIFORNIA
09. MARINA DUNES – MARINA CALIFORNIA
10. OCEANSIDE – OCEANSIDE CALIFORNIA
11. PALM SPRINGS – PALM SPRINGS CALIFORNIA
12. PISMO BEACH – PISMO BEACH CALIFORNIA
13. INN AT THE PARK – SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA
14. MISSION VALLEY – SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA
15. BUSH STREET – SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
16. SOLVANG – SOLVANG CALIFORNIA
17. PAGOSA SPRINGS – PAGOSA SPRINGS COLORADO
18. KIHEI – MAUI HAWAII
19. ARROW POINT – HARRISON IDAHO
20. NEW ORLEANS – NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANNA
21. THE BOULEVARDE – LAS VEGAS NEVADA
22. SPENCER STREET – LAS VEGAS NEVADA
23. RENO – RENO NEVADA
24. SANTA FE – SANTA FE NEW MEXICO
25. GRAND LAKES – AFTON OKLAHOMA
26. RUNNING Y – KLAMATH FALLS OREGON
27. EAGLE CREST – REDMOND OREGON
28. STABLEWOOD SPRINGS – HUNT TEXAS
29. MARBLE FALLS – MARBLE FALLS TEXAS
30. NEW BRAUNFELS – NEW BRAUNFELS TEXAS
31. BEAR LAKE – GARDEN CITY UTAH
32. ST. GEORGE – ST GEORGE UTAH
33. THE CAMLIN – SEATTLE WASHINGTON
34. CANMORE BANFF – CANMORE ALBERTA, CANADA
35. THE CANADIAN – VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
36. SUNDANCE – WHISTLER BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
37. DENARAU- DENARAU ISLAND FIJI
38. CLUB WYNDHAM BALI HAI – KAUAI KAUAI, HAWAII
39. CLUB WYNDHAM ROYAL GARDEN – HONOLULU OAHU, HAWAII
40. CLUB WYNDHAM – NASHVILLE TENNESSEE
41. CLUB WYNDHAM – KINGSGATE VIRGINIA
42. CLUB WYNDHAM – PORT MACQUARRIE N.S.W., AUSTRALIA
43. CLUB WYNDHAM – SHOAL BAY N.S.W., AUSTRALIA
44. CLUB WYNDHAM – CAIRNS QLD., AUSTRALIA
45. RAMADA RESORT BY WYNDHAM – GOLDEN BEACH QLD., AUSTRALIA
46. CLUB WYNDHAM – KIRRA BEACH QLD., AUSTRALIA
47. RAMADA BY WYNDHAM – MARCOOLA BEACH QLD., AUSTRALIA
48. CLUB WYNDHAM CROWN TOWERS – SURFERS PAR. QLD., AUSTRALIA
49. CLUB WYNDHAM SURFERS PAR. – SURFERS PAR. QLD., AUSTRALIA
50. CLUB WYNDHAM – SEVEN MILE BEACH TAS., AUSTRALIA
51. CLUB WYNDHAM – LAKES ENTRANCE VIC., AUSTRALIA
52. CLUB WYNDHAM – MELBOURNE VIC., AUSTRALIA
53. RAMADA BY WYNDHAM – PHILLIP ISLAND VIC., AUSTRALIA
54. CLUB WYNDHAM – TORQUAY VIC., AUSTRALIA
55. CLUB WYNDHAM – DUNSBOROUGH W.A., AUSTRALIA